Saturday, September 16, 2017

When the Edmonton Oilers announced the signing of Matt Benning to a two-year deal in August of 2016, many felt the club had lucked out and stumbled upon a player with the potential of eventually developing into a second pairing NHL defenceman. Isn’t it funny how expectations can change over the course of a calendar year?

Friday, September 15, 2017

From the moment the Boston Bruins announced the signing of David Pastrnak to a six-year/ $40 million deal, it was only a matter of time before the comparisons started to make the rounds on the recently inked eight-year/ $68 million pact of Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl. On the surface, it may look as though Peter Chiarelli had once again overplayed his hand but in this case, the two situations are similar but not exactly alike.

Monday, September 11, 2017

From a boxcar statistics standpoint, it is next to impossible to have been disappointed with what Milan Lucic delivered during his first season with the Edmonton Oilers. While his lack of success at even strength was essentially canceled out by his surprising production on the power play, expecting much more than 23 goals and 50 points from the veteran winger would seem to be both disingenuous and rather unrealistic.

Sunday, September 10, 2017

With the 2017-18 NHL season just around the corner, Edmonton Oilers forward Patrick Maroon is about to embark on the most important campaign of his career. After being relegated to the role of nothing more than a spare part during his final season with the Anaheim Ducks, the hulking winger has managed to turn things around since arriving in the Alberta capital.

As great as Cam Talbot was for the Edmonton Oilers in 2016-17, expecting a repeat performance in 2017-18 would be quite the ask. In my mind, there is an extremely good chance the 30-year old will once again be among the best goaltenders in the league but to think he will do it by appearing in another 70 plus games and play over 4,000 minutes isn’t practical. So the question then becomes, is Laurent Brossoit ready to take on a bigger role?